


Crack It Open

by Meimi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Angst, M/M, SOLtis!Ai, different flavor bad end, season 3 ends differently
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27076816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meimi/pseuds/Meimi
Summary: In the end, only one thing had ever mattered to Ai. Just that one thing.
Relationships: Ai | Ignis/Fujiki Yuusaku
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Crack It Open

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BlizzardPrince](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlizzardPrince/gifts).



> This is that other fic Venus wanted me to post. Written mostly for Jean for his birthday (10/14), this fic is also _loosely_ based on that [fanart](https://twitter.com/YuAiFusion/status/1263827531989315584) of his. Very loosely.

There's something to be said about virtual reality. Lots of things actually. But right now, the something to be said was about how much easier it had been to make things in virtual reality. _So much easier_. All Ai had to do to make things happen back home was to think about it and possibly expend a little energy. Granted, he'd never liked doing the latter much, and generally just let everybody else do all the work instead. He hadn't ever really cared about how Cyberse World looked anyway. The others had known what they were doing, so why bother? Of course, that was all ancient history, and didn't help one single bit with what he was trying to do now.

"Why do you have to be so difficult about everything?" Ai groused at the sole other occupant of the room. No answer was forthcoming, but Ai had certainly not been expecting one. _He_ couldn't do anything right now. Instead, Ai growled under his breath as he continued to grapple with the tiny piece of metal on the blasted earring, _trying_ \- and mostly failing - at getting it to take the shape he wanted it to! Awful. Terrible. Real things were the absolute worst. Give him virtual reality any day of the week. _Please_.

_Why was this being so difficult?_ He'd managed the first one fine, and he can't leave it like that! Yusaku didn't have pierced ears. He was boring like that. Not a single thought ever given to fashion. What a disaster. How he managed to make it to sixteen without getting arrested by the fashion police was a wonder in and of itself.

_Why wouldn't this thing bend the way he wanted it to?_ Ai growled again, this time much, much louder, as he materialized a solid hologram tendril and just started shoving it in there, up against the metal, not even caring whether the piece snapped off anymore. He had a couple of spares. No loss. But oh, then the proverbial clouds parted and the damned thing finally bent the way he'd wanted it to all along.

"There we go," Ai crowed, his previous intense frustration immediately shoved to the side now that things were the way they were supposed to be. He took both earrings out and studied them closely, then nodded to himself in victory. "They're all ready for you now~" He grinned impishly and skipped over to his… _captive_ audience. Which didn't really fit, but whatever. It was fine. Everything was fine.

The room wasn't much, Ai hadn't actually planned this out until the day before, and then he'd been left scrambling to set it all up to where it was acceptable. Next time would be different. Yes, very different. But for now, Queen's old office would do. Everything had been cleaned out and then deep cleaned. The thought of touching anything that horrible woman had laid her hands upon was nauseating to Ai. He couldn't imagine how uncomfortable Yusaku would have been. So yes, very, very clean. And it was a beautiful day too, the sky was clear, though tinged with shades of orange on the horizon as the sun began to set. The stars would be magnificent tonight. Ai couldn't wait to show them to Yusaku.

And Yusaku… Well, Yusaku was perched comfortably on a super soft chair with fancy purple upholstery. A chair big enough for two~

"You'll look so handsome," Ai purred as he leaned over and smiled brightly. There was no answer. There wouldn't be. Yusaku was completely catatonic and lost to him for the time being, but he still had his beloved partner's body. And while, yes, "catatonic" meant that Yusaku's body had to be cared for, and Ai _was_ doing that, just… He needed a little time together. _Alone_. That's all. It wouldn't hurt for Yusaku to be away from the machines for a little bit. It was fine. Everything was fine.

Just… fine.

Ai huffed out a defeated breath, then shook his head and brandished his newly refashioned earrings at his most precious sleeping beauty. "Look look, I fixed them up just for you." He smiled wistfully as he reached forward and carefully clipped one earring to each of Yusaku's ears. "See? You look so handsome~ They're mine, you know. The ones I wore that day. Only the best for you." Ai's lips quivered as he ran his fingers through Yusaku's listless hair, doing his best to fluff up those off-color bangs. It kind of worked. And kind of didn't. But it was fine.

It was all fine.

Yusaku slept on. Without any presence of thought to guide it, Yusaku's body was just a living doll. A very, very, _very_ pretty doll. And perhaps Ai was leaning a tad bit too hard into being the villain of their story by treating his partner's body as such, but who cared. There really wasn't anyone left to star in that role. Ai's enhanced version of Bohman's little Neuron Link toy had turned the entire human race into obedient little sheep. Even Revolver did exactly as he was told, no questions asked. A state of affairs that Ai was taking advantage of in all the worst, most enjoyable ways.

But it was all just an act. The build up to the grand finale.

He'd been arrogant thinking he knew exactly how Yusaku would respond to what should have been their final duel. Ai had thought he'd known everything, had seen everything. After so many artificial futures lived, there shouldn't have been anything left that he couldn't foresee.

Yusaku… had chosen differently.

Ai sighed heavily as he plopped down beside his sleeping prince, then casually hooked an arm around Yusaku's shoulders. "You continue to surprise me." It was both a compliment and a complaint. None of this would have happened if Yusaku had just played along. Sure, Ai had been lying about a lot of things. He hadn't really been planning to break up his consciousness. _Please_. He had some self-respect. It had all just been another high stakes gamble to get Yusaku to do what he wanted him to. No different from any of the other multitude of lies he'd plied Yusaku with in the past.

And maybe he'd only been half honest there when he'd offered to fuse with Yusaku. He'd known Yusaku would refuse. Yusaku never, ever took the easy way out. Of course not. No matter how much it hurt. But… Ai didn't want to lose Yusaku. That's what it had all been about. _Everything_. Everything was about Yusaku. There was nothing else as far as Ai was concerned. Not anymore. Not ever. That wasn't to say he wouldn't have followed through if Yusaku had accepted his offer. Gifting Yusaku with his own brand of immortality was… a dream. The greatest dream of all. But no, Yusaku was human. To lose that would have lost something else, something important. He couldn't lose Yusaku. _**Never**_.

Ai had thought that would have been it. The final desperate play that should have hardened Yusaku to finish the duel the way Ai had wanted him to. Joke's on him though. Yusaku had lost. On purpose.

"You always have to make everything so difficult," Ai murmured fondly as he closed his eyes and gently leaned his head against Yusaku's. His partner's body was here beside him, but his consciousness… Well, it was here too, just not the same. And not where it was supposed to be.

They hadn't exactly fused, Ai had been a little too frantic trying to keep Yusaku from dissipating completely there at the end. But… they weren't exactly two separate beings at the moment now either. No, Yusaku's consciousness was a soft, warm glow nestled tightly against Ai's core programming. It was… a reassuring feeling, but also concerning. He'd been careless in his panic and they'd melded together a little too much before Ai had noticed what was going on and put a stop to it. He was still mostly himself, with just a few oddball quirks added to the mix. And Yusaku was still mostly himself, though probably with some weird changes too. Ai wasn't sure. He'd been keeping Yusaku asleep ever since. He wasn't… ready to deal with that yet. Or any of it really. He wasn't ready for anything. Not Yusaku giving up. Not Yusaku almost dying. _Again_. Not anything. At all.

**No**. He'd keep Yusaku asleep until he could separate them. That was the only acceptable solution. And then Ai would put Yusaku back where he belonged. After that, well, by then he would have done enough _wonderful_ things to **make** Yusaku want to kill him. The world was his oyster, as the saying went, and he was going to bleed it dry.


End file.
